UNC Senator: I’m no terrorist

Ahmed said she used those terms to shatter public misconceptions that there was a symbiotic connection between Muslims and terrorism and lay the foundation for her substantive argument that the Firearms Amendment Bill 2006, could open the door for the establishment of illegal gun and ammunition businesses in Trinidad and Tobago.

Ahmed expressed surprise the media chose to focus only on comments that comprised two minutes of her contribution to the debate on the bill in the Senate on Tuesday.

Observing there are people in TT and elsewhere who have the tendency to broadbrush Muslims with anything associated with terrorism, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, Ahmed said she was afraid that “being a Muslim woman wearing a hijab” people would believe that her comments about the legislation could suggest that she had knowledge of terrorist activity in TT.

Ahmed reiterated she is not a terrorist and while she supports jihad, that word is defined in Islam to mean an “inner struggle” to achieve the highest form of perfection of self. She added that “kilab” was the Muslim word for war.

Ahmed also lamented that there were some persons in the media who did not understand that not all acts of terrorism were associated with Muslims.

Recalling newspaper photos of her senatorial colleague Dr Shastri Moonan that suggested that he was asleep during their first Senate sitting on July 4, Ahmed said it was unfortunate that the media chose to focus on her opening remarks and not the substance of her argument.

Ahmed explained that what she was trying to show was that the bill could create a situation where licences are granted to entrepreneurs to export and import guns and ammunition into and out of TT.

The senator said with allegations of terrorist cells existing in TT, it was possible that loopholes in the legislation could create opportunities for unscrupulous characters to establish and profit from illegal gun and ammunition trades.

Security reports issued yesterday from the US Central Intelligence Agency, US State Department and British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said there is no evidence of any terrorist activity in TT.